Original Design

by William Latoria

  This caught all of their attention. Even President Silvia stopped sulking and looked up from his desk. “What, or whom, are the Sigmas?” asked Soearth.

  “I apologize, of course you do not know whom I speak of.” Tremendous began, embarrassed, “The Sigmas are Omegas like I am. They have the same appearance as we do, only they are much older than the Omegas you have met. Some Sigmas have been around since the dawn of our race, but even the youngest amongst them have been alive for hundreds of millions of your cycles. They are the highest caste in our culture and therefore make the decisions, and pass down the orders that we all follow. A Sigma, who goes by the name…” a long silence came from Tremendous as the translation programs in their heads worked out the complicated name it was trying to speak, “…Excogitatoris, is the one that created the first prototype of your kind. That Sigma will be on one of the ships heading here, Excogitatoris is very eager to see you for itself.”

  Blackshade looked at the others in the room, all of them seemed to be processing this new information and coming to differing conclusions. To no surprise, President Silvia was getting angry again. The word, ‘INVASION’ was plastered on his forehead. Soearth looked thoughtful about the prospect, the words, ‘So much we do not know’ scrolled across his. Tricia looked excited, her forehead displaying the words, ‘I cannot wait to meet more’. Novatrix looked intrigued, but due to her bangs, he couldn’t read her forehead, and the Secret Service agents ran the gamut from surprised, to scared. He himself didn’t know how he felt about more Omegas… or Sigmas in this case, coming to Earth. On one hand, he was excited, like Tricia was, to meet more of the Omega race and learn from them. On the other hand, he was worried what an increased presence of aliens might mean for humanity.

  “Why are the Sigmas coming here, Tremendous? Do they just want to meet us, or is there, something else?” Blackshade asked worried.

  Tremendous looked down at him, “We have sent the Sigmas all of the preliminary research we have gathered since arriving. After they received it, they became as fascinated by your existence as we are. They changed their course shortly thereafter and began heading this way. They should arrive in just a few of your cycles, and when they arrive, I am sure they will want to spend time studying you in this environment in much the same was we have, as well as interact with you in ways similar to this. There will be nothing invasive or harmful done to humanity by the Sigmas, I assure you. Once they have gotten the information they require from those interactions, their current plan is to reincorporate humanity into our collective and take you away from this toxic part of the universe. You will rejoin us on our ships, never to be discarded again. Your universe is about to become much larger!”

  Everyone in the room gasped at this. President Novatrix was the first to recover, “You’re going to take us with you? We’re going to travel in your ships and explore the universe with you?” she asked off guard, and then she added suspiciously, “In what capacity? As resource collectors as we originally were, or some sort of subspecies that has to submit to your every whim?”

  Tremendous looked at her incredulously, “No, of course not! You will follow our orders, of course. You will have to re-learn how to perform functions and duties on our ships, but you will not be treated as a subspecies. Fuin’s robes, little one! We are not elves!”

  Blackshade stepped forward, “Do you swear that you’re not trying to enslave us? Do you swear that the Sigmas coming to Earth isn’t part of some sort of invasion or plan to round us up and use us like… like… Scrappers!? Like you did before?” he asked desperately. Honestly, deep down inside, he knew that Tremendous was a good…well… Omega, and he knew that if they wanted to enslave humanity, there was little humanity could do about it. However, this was far too serious a subject to simply give the Omegas the benefit of the doubt. He needed to hear Tremendous promise that this wasn’t a trick. “Do you swear it, as Fuin as your witness?”

  Tremendous rounded on him, looking shocked out of its skin. It was the most emotion he had ever seen from an Omega, other than Minder, and he began to regret his choice of words. Knowing he had gone too far to try to backpedal his statement now, Blackshade stood his ground and waited for Tremendous’ response.

  The Omega leader looked at him for a long moment before an impressed look replaced the shock on its face, “You are a clever human, Blackshade.” it answered admiringly. Then the huge Omega dropped down to both of its knees and placed both its hands against the floor in front of him. It lowered its head and closed its eyes in a display of supplication that Blackshade recalled seeing Pious perform when calling down Fuin’s power. The only difference being that Tremendous’ tail stayed wrapped around its shoulder.

  “Lord Fuin, I beg you to hear now the vow I make to the human, Bill Blackshade and all of its people.” Tremendous began in a ritualistic voice, “I swear that no Omega, or Sigma, bears humanity any hostility or poses a threat to their race, provided they do not provoke us. I swear that we will not enslave them, nor force them to perform any act that would be against their will. I swear this on the family we are trying to create, on the honor of the Omegas, on my pride as an appointed leader, and on my very life. In your name, I beg you to hold me to this, Tartum Fuin.”

  There were a few more moments of silence, before Tremendous regained its feet with the grace of a cat and once again towered over them. Blackshade had no further arguments; that was the most amazing oath he had ever heard in his life. If Tremendous broke it, Blackshade truly believed that Fuin itself would manifest and strike it down instantly.

  He looked around at the rest of the people in the room, he could tell all of them were thinking the same thing. “Thank you for that, Tremendous. I believe you, and I’m sorry I doubted you. Please understand though, this is all completely new to us, and the idea that a race as sophisticated as yours would want to carry around a race that’s as, well… underdeveloped as we are… is a lot to blindly accept.”

  Tremendous was about to reply, when Silvia burst from his chair, “This is horseshit!” he screamed at Tremendous, “You come in here and spew your lies and filth. You claim to have our best interests in mind, but you’re full of shit! Your bumbling around on our planet has cost us Moscow, South America, China, our ecosystem, and hundreds of millions of lives! And now that you’ve studied us, which I was very much against, you know all of our strengths and weaknesses and have called for back up to invade and enslave us! Well I’m on to you, pal, and if you think humanity is just going to roll over for you like this pussy Blackshade has, you’re out of you stupid fucking mind! I will NEVER be your slave, and I can promise you no true human will ever willingly submit to your rule!”

  Something snapped inside of Blackshade, and before he knew it, he was rushing towards President Silvia. He had heard moments like this slowed down for the person involved and that details were difficult to remember, but it wasn’t so for him. Time didn’t slow down, or change at all. If anything, his senses heightened, and he was fully aware of everything he was doing. President Silvia saw Blackshade coming, which wasn’t a surprise, he was the second biggest human in the room and moving very fast. The look on the President’s face changed from righteous fury, to cold fear in less than a second. Blackshade saw that Silvia tried to get his arms up in time to block his attack, but Blackshade could tell it was a reflex, and not any kind of conscious defense. Not that it would have helped him, he had the element of surprise and had no intention of wasting it. His punch connected with the President’s face beautifully at the apex of his swing. Every ounce of anger, frustration, and disgust he felt for the man was in that punch, and when it connected with his meaty face, the feeling was euphoric. The high pitched squeal of pain and terror that escaped the President at the moment of impact helped to prolong the exhilaration. The force of his blow knocked the President backwards, and he went sprawling into his chair. The chair spun back on its wheels and went tumbling over, spilling the flailing President to the floor. To their credit, the Secret Ser
vice Agents were on him the moment the President hit the floor, with an agent grabbing his arms and whispering for him to stop. Blackshade held up his hands, his rage draining out of him, “It’s over. I’m done, I’m done.” he told the agents, surrendering.

  The Agent behind him held him by his biceps, but didn’t restrain him aggressively. Blackshade got the feeling that the Agent was pleased he had hit the President. Other Agents flanked him on either side and watched him warily, but neither of them pulled their weapons. Their foreheads bore the words, ‘Please Stop’, and ‘Nice punch’ which gave Blackshade hope that he wasn’t about to be executed. Now that the reality of what he had just done registered to him, he realized that he could be in a lot of trouble.

  “What!? He… Oh, God! Arresht him!” the President slurred, as he tried to regain his feet. It was obvious that the President had received a concussion from his attack, and probably a moderate one at that; Blackshade barely suppressed his grin. The Agents responded to Silvia’s slurred order. One of the female agents pulled out a pair of handcuffs and began walking towards him warily. The words, ‘Sorry about this Ambassador’ appearing on her forehead.

  Novatrix stood, “Agents, release Ambassador Blackshade, and help President Silvia to the medical wing.” she told them in her calm yet authoritative tone. The agents approaching him stopped and looked at each other trying to decide which order to follow. “I fully pardon Ambassador Blackshade for his actions. While I do not condone violence, I also do not condone blatant disrespect to foreign dignitaries that come to us peacefully…especially ones that are trying to save us from extinction. So, while I do not approve of Blackshade’s methods, his results are more than adequate at reminding President Silvia of the repercussions of disrespecting our honored guests.” she told everyone in the room.

  Blackshade watched the Agents to see if this would sway them or not. He didn’t know what the Agents personally thought about the Presidents, but if Novatrix was more popular than Silvia, he had a chance. The female Agent holding the handcuffs looked at Novatrix, then at Silvia, who was still trying to stand up and failing miserably, and then back at him. Then the Agent flashed him the briefest of grins before saying, “You heard President Novatrix, assist President Silvia to the medical wing. Ambassador Blackshade did him a favor.”

  The Agent holding his arms let him go immediately, and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. The pat was gentle, and an obvious sign of approval. Blackshade was relieved that he wasn’t going to be arrested for striking the most powerful man on the planet, and found himself wondering how cruel he must be to these Agents for them to be swayed so quickly by Novatrix. Yes, she was the President too, and just as powerful as Silvia in all respects, but her pardon of him was bullshit incarnate. He would have to be found guilty of an offense before she could do that, which the Agents would know. Their dislike of Silvia must run very deep, which was just one more thing he was very grateful for.

  Blackshade watched in satisfaction as two Agents helped Silvia to his feet and escorted him out of the room. The President kept trying to speak, but his words were becoming more slurred by the minute. Blackshade felt a twinge of guilt for hitting him so hard. He had wanted to hurt him, but he didn’t mean to scramble his brain. Not that it really mattered, the medical wing would have him fixed up in just a few hours. A concussion, even a severe one, could be easily treated by the medical staff inside the Foundation. By the time Silvia was back on his feet and calling for his blood, this meeting would be long finished, with Novatrix and Tremendous coming to a legally binding agreement. In a way, he wished he had hit the man sooner. As the doors automatically shut behind the Agents carrying Silvia, the remaining people in the room returned to the matter at hand.

  “Lord Tremendous, I apologize for that ugliness. Humans can be impulsive, but I promise you that Ambassador Blackshade will show more restraint in the future.” she said in a warning Blackshade understood clearly. She would not pull his ass out of the fire a second time.

  Tremendous shrugged, “How humans govern themselves is not my concern, but I must admit, I find it intriguing that you will attack each other at almost any provocation; especially on your internet. In fact, fighting seems to be what a large portion of your internet is for.”

  Novatrix looked ashamed, “We have a lot to learn about living peacefully amongst each other. I hope that we can learn that from your example.”

  “Well-spoken, little one!” Tremendous said encouragingly, “I think we will both learn a lot from one another.”

  Tremendous looked like he was getting ready to say more, but then the Omega leader stood up and looked towards the conference room doors. A surprised, yet pleased smile spread across its lips, “Ah, that did not take them long at all.”

  Blackshade followed the Omega’s gaze and saw nothing. Just the big double doors that the Secret Service Agents had just taken Silvia through. He was about to ask Tremendous what it was talking about when a bright white slit appeared in the middle of the air. The slit widened and out from it stepped Artificer. The engineer was carrying three large, flat square objects that fit in the palm of its hand. As the Omega engineer stepped through the slit that was now obviously some sort of portal, it winked out of existence. Artificer looked around the room as it made its way toward them. “It is very interesting that the humans tend to dedicate specific locations to conduct their affairs just like we do. I wonder if it is a learned behavior, or some sort of latent programing.” it said to no one in particular.

  Blackshade was pleased to see Artificer. It had been a while, and the engineer had always been the most human of all the Omegas. “Welcome back to the Foundation, Artificer!”

  Artificer looked down at him and smiled, “Thank you, Blackshade.” the Omega responded sociably. It held out the square objects towards him, “Here are the trees you require. They have been heavily modified from their original design and are now compatible with your planet’s environment. All you have to do is plant those eight feet into the crust of the planet, the packet will do the rest.”

  Blackshade reached up to take the square objects from Artificer, but was unprepared for how heavy they were. As Artificer released its hold on the square discs, the weight immediately became too much for him. Blackshade’s survival instincts kicked in, and he gave up any attempt to keep from dropping the discs. Instead, he jumped nimbly back, as the three squares fell hard to the ground. Where they hit, the marble floor cracked, leaving a three-inch-deep rent in the floor. Three gong like sounds reverberated around the room as the squares crashed on the ground.

  Blackshade was mortified, “I’m sorry! I didn’t know they would be so heavy!” he explained quickly, “Are they damaged? Did I break them?” he dropped to his knees to inspect the square discs, terrified he had just doomed humanity. They didn’t look damaged, but unless the damage was obvious, he wasn’t sure he would be able to tell.

  The sound of Tremendous and Artificer laughing vanquished his concerns. He should have known better; the Omegas didn’t make fragile stuff. He stood, feeling foolish, but as he regained his feet, the looks on Soearth’s, Tricia’s, and Novatrix’s faces caught him off guard. They looked terrified by the Omega’s laughter.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked dumbly.

  Tricia responded first, “What are they doing? Are they having a seizure? Are they mad?” she asked, clearly afraid. The words, ‘Are they mad’ scrolled across her forehead.

  Now Blackshade laughed a little, “No. You can all relax. That’s just how they laugh.”

  All three of them looked at him doubtfully. “It’s so strange…” Novatrix said, trying to reconcile what she knew of laughter, compared to what Omega laughter sounded like. Blackshade had to admit, she had a point.

  “True, Madam President,” he said conceding the point, “but they’re not human, so they do quite a few things that are different from our ways, laughter being one of those things.”

  Novatrix looked embarrassed, “Yes, of course. My mistake.�
� she muttered.

  The Omegas stopped laughing, and still smiling, Artificer reached down and plucked one of the squares off the floor easily. He handed it to Blackshade carefully. “Your musculature should be able to handle the weight of one disc, Blackshade. I am sorry, I did not realize the mass of these packets would overwhelm you.” it said, still chuckling.

  Blackshade could feel the blood rushing into his face, but refused to allow himself to take offense. He took the offered disc, and although it was still heavy, the Omega was right, and he was able to hold it this time.

  “Thank you, Artificer,” Blackshade said politely, “Just to clarify, all we have to do is bury these discs together in a hole that’s eight feet deep, and that’s it? How often should we water them? How long will they take to grow? Is there any routine maintenance we should perform on either the tree or the soil? Are there any special needs or requirements that must be met in order to sustain the tree?”

  Artificer’s smile broadened, but it didn’t laugh again, for which Blackshade was grateful, “Not at all, Blackshade,” the Engineer reassured him, “Find a large open area, two or three miles in diameter will probably suffice. I would suggest the location we landed in when we first arrived on your planet as a good location for the first tree.”

  This caught his attention, “Do you mean, you’re giving us three of these wind trees?” he asked, bewildered. For some reason, it never occurred to him that the Omegas would gift them three trees when they only asked for one. Now that he realized it, he noticed all three discs looked exactly the same. He felt a little ashamed for not putting it together right away.

  “One tree is all this planet would need in order to get a majority of the pollution out of the atmosphere, as well as returning the atmosphere to optimal human levels. Having three trees on your planet will make the process faster, and the trees will work more efficiently than if there was just one of them. I would suggest planting the other two on the other continents of your planet. That way, the atmosphere they produce will be better disseminated throughout the globe.”